A Celebration of Life

HUGE thank you to Kelly for being a great host, as well for the delicious apricots that were kindly left for us

Helen, Jeremy & Josephine

The perfect Cornish paradise from the moment we stepped out of the car.

Nick & Emma

This is just to thank you for the amazing healing retreat – for the home, hearth and healing experience you provided me in my hour of need Rachel! Your gentle wisdom and humour are healing balm for a weathered soul. The Moon Lodge is so beautiful and was a warm womb of safety and stillness that just held me, I could feel the deep earthy energy of her lulling me into a unusual state of calm… and I would like to also say that I find your professional, sensitive and very attentive, consistent provision of all my earthly, emotional and spiritual needs have left me feeling met and nourished on a very deep level. I would highly recommend all of my friends, colleagues and clients to you and The Living Well Centre for a very home from home, deep healing retreat immersion. I feel much lighter after my absolutely blissful shamanic healing massages too, and two days spent with you at the Centre. Thank you again, I hope to be back! Love.

Teya

I had a wonderful few days on retreat at the Moon Lodge, and I’m hoping to come again soon. I loved it immediately – a stunningly beautiful, simple building embodying the forms and energies of Earth and our Great Mother. I recommend the Lodge to any woman in need of retreat time in an affirming place of beauty – or indeed, to any man who can identify with its deep feminine nature. It’s a warm, comfortable, containing and deeply supportive place, ideally located for lovely walks and visits to sacred sites. Congratulations to Rachel and her friends for creating this healing space!

Moira

the Hobbit house is a dream come true! This is without doubt one of the loveliest places we’ve stayed, a delightful and inspirational retreat.

Paula, Travis & Bviar

The Hobbit House is the best place in my life, I loved the countryside the most and the fire too. I liked the hedgehog house alot!

Murray age 7

We were looking for somewhere local (West Cornwall) to hold our handfasting. We needed somewhere with a beautiful outside space, but also with an inside back up plan in case the weather wasn’t kind to us.

We’d visited The Living Well Centre previously on open days and knew what a beautiful space it was and how it’s ethics fitted with ours, so we decided to approach them to see about hiring a space there to hold our handfasting.

To our delight as we looked round the website we discovered that not only did they hire space out but that Rachel, who lives there, is a celebrant too.

From the first phone call, Rachel put us at ease and from our first meeting a few days later we knew we’d found the right space and the right celebrant.

Rachel took us through ideas for the ceremony, always making sure that it was what we wanted. She gave us to do lists and thought of all the little details that we wouldn’t have thought of.

The day itself was more than we ever could have hoped for, Rachel made sure that we took time at the beautiful well to get ourselves in the right place to make the commitments that we were about to make.

The holy well is such a peaceful place and we felt so blessed that Rachel used the water from there to bless our rings, broomstick and chalice which were part of the ceremony. The garden around the well is beautiful too, we couldn’t have found a more lovely space in which to have our handfasting.

The ceremony itself was amazing and we felt that the commitments we made were much more meaningful than any traditional marriage ceremony. When Rachel asked for a couple of minutes silent contemplation from everyone all you could hear was the wind rustling the leaves and birdsong, it would be impossible for anyone not to be present in that idyllic setting.

After the ceremony everyone was cold and so we adjourned to the Longhouse for mead and cake, only to find that Rachel had got there before us and lit the log fire so everyone could warm up. (This wonderful woman thinks of everything!!)

All our guests said what a wonderful experience it was and how much they enjoyed it. Paul’s brother said on Facebook “If I wasn’t already married, I’d do it in the middle of nowhere between Penzance and Lands End with morris dancers, a sacred well and all those I love.”

And that’s exactly what we’re glad we did!

Tracie & Paul

Our Hobbit house – the ‘sounds’ of peace and serenity

Maggie, Spike & Jackie

I had a two night break in the Moon Lodge in May. As a mother with three children at home, the most valuable thing for me is to have the space to “be”. I arrived at the Moon Lodge with pre-prepared food, paints and my dream journal. My aim was to do whatever I felt like in the moment. The Moon Lodge is a beautiful, holding space. Through the windows of the Lodge all you see is a circle of trees, a fire pit and sky. Birdsong surrounds you and at night the stars are incredible. So I slept, painted, dreamt, read, ate and sometimes did nothing at all. Absolute bliss! I feel blessed to have had this experience.

Jacqui

Close your eyes… then peep, can you see the fairies too? Dancing in the woods.

Listen … can you hear enchanting music… and whistful songs?

The magic of the night vanishes… into a wonderful memory…

And we… just the same leave our footprints… and take our memories.

Thank You

Maxine & Rodger

The deeper blue ocean the paller blue sky. The call of the Seagulls all soaring on high. Wherever I travel, wherever I roam one day I will live here and call Cornwall home

The Smiths

It feels like some deep magic is at work here at the Hobbit House. Thank you for creating this haven of peace in a garden of abundance.

Mark, Caroline, Lena & bump

The weekend just gone, I did the unthinkable and wrapped myself in self-love. Ignoring all the work stuff constantly hovering over me, I took some much-needed healing time out, to spend a couple of days on retreat in the newly built Moon Lodge at The Living Well Centre. A simple, curvy mud and straw hut, I could have stayed there indefinitely. No electricity, gas or running water, no laptop, just a futon mattress on the floor, sheepskins and rugs and a woodburner. Outside, compost toilets, a woodfired shower and camp sinks provided all the mod cons necessary for the perfect low-impact, communing with nature experience. These precious two days were spent wandering nearby footpaths, sleeping in the sun, reading (I read a whole book in a day) playing my violin and ukulele, eating (lots) drinking, sitting by the fire in the evenings watching the barn owls at dusk, and shooting stars at nightfall, and thinking. Bliss. A really calming, almost spiritual space, it was exactly what I needed. feeling grateful
Published in Fi Read’s Community Spirit column in The Cornishman, June 18th 2015

Fi Read in The Cornishman

The Hobbit House was better than we could ever of wished for, it really is a special inspiring place.

Mark, Nina, Ella

Thank you for providing us with this beautiful, comfortable space. So good to have the chance to let go of distractions and enjoy the simplicity of life again with a bunch of good friends! Especially in this inspiring, natural environment… Loved every minute of it!

Anon

The Hobbit house is just delightful! Never fails to amaze with the changing lights of early Autumn. Simple delights of sunbeams – the sky globe and the wonderful ideas of those who made it all happen. Thank You!